Ore-concentrator.



W, E. FORD. ORB CONGNTRATOR. APPLIOATIoN FILED APR i2, 1909.

- PatentedrApr. 29,1913.

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WILLIAM E. FORD, OF CARTHAGE, MISSOURI.

OBE-CONCENTRATOB.

Specincation of Letters ratent.

Patented Apr. 29, 1913.

` Application filed April 12, 1909. Serial No. 489,431.

To aZZ whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. Fem), a citizen of the United States, residing at Carthage, in the county of Jasper, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements in Ore-Concentrators, of which t e followin is a specification.

This-invention re ates to ore-concentrating apparatusof the type in which the reduced ore is treated on a table to which eculiar vibratory motions are imparted an across which is caused to flow a film or thin sheet of water, the ore thereon being first stratified and then concentrated.

It has for its object to improve the concentrating table in the manner illustrated in the accompanying drawings and hereinafter described.

Figure 1 of the drawin view of the concentrating able showing the rile arran ement. Fig. 2 is a long1,

tn dinal sections view of the table. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view, pJarts being broken away, illustrating the races for maintaining the surface of the table in a plane. Figs. 4 5, 6 and 7 are transverse sec tional views talren res ectively on the lines IV, V, VI and VII of ig. 1. In the drawings 4 designates the concentrating table which is su ported in any suitable manner,

and to whic is imparted reciprocatory mo-v tions, as is common in apparatus of the type to which my invention e onge, for the purpose of effecting the separation'of the valuable from the worthless parts of themass of fine material treated on the surface of` the table. It is (preferably rectan lar in shape and rovide with a series of riles which I w1 presently describe in detail. In order to maintain the working surface of the table as nearly in a perfect plane as possible and to correct any tendency for it to warp out of sha e, I em 1 0 bracing devices,illus trated in 4ig. 8, w o are located along the longitudinal ed es of the table. Referring particularly to t is view, 24 24 indicate incliricdbrace rods supported at their outer ends inthe floor plates 2B which are secured to the undersideof the bed of the concentrating table close to the outer edges thereof.

is a plan` At their inner ends these braces are supported in brackets 25 carried by the longitudinal sills or track beams 8 of the table. Nuts 26 engage with the screw-threaded parts of the brace rods and, lying on the opposite sides of the brackets 25, constitute means by which the rods are adjusted and maintained underproper stress to keep the surface of the table in approximately a perfect plane.

concentrating tables of the class to which my invention belongs customarily have imparted to them reciprocatory motions of a peculiar nature-the forward movements thereofvbeing more rapid than those in a rearward direction-in order to ecct the advancement of the ore longitudinally along the table, and at the same time, in conjunction with the wash of the water flowing across the table, to cause the separation of the valuable from the worthless ingredients of the ore. In my Patent 880,425 dated September 4, 1906, there is shown a driving mecnanism for reciprocating the table such as may be employed. It

is however unnecessary to illustrate said.

driving mechanism in order to understand 'the invention herein presented.

In the treatment of ore by means of apparatus such as described two operations upon the material being treated take place as has already been alluded to, namely, stratification and concentration. While both of these operations are taking place to a certain degree throughout the entire active surface of the concentrating table, the stratiiication is principally effected near the head or feeding-on end of the machine, while the concentration takes place principally toward the delivery end. To promote these operations it is customary to provide the table with standing ribs or ritlles which are usually arranged parallel with each other and with the lines of reciprocation of the table. They usually have vertical edges and are highest toward the feeding-0n end of the table and thence radual y taper toward the delivery end. n my aforesaid atent there is illustrated and described a crm of rile which I have discovered to be fie highly eihcient. It consists of a central rib portion having vertical side edges and a ase portion from which the rib rises, having upper surfaces that vslope awa from the main rib. The rib part o the ri le, that is the part having vertical standing edges, inclines downward from the head toward the tail end of the table, While the base p0rtion of the riiiie--the part having inclined u per surfaces,-extends beyond the said ri and finally merges into the fiat surface of the table near the tail or discharge end thereof. It is now well understood that the riiiles with vertical edges cause the wash Water owin transversely across the table to form ed ies adjacent to the standin edges, and that stratification of the materia bein treated is facilitated by reason of this brea ing up of the flow of the water. The continuation of the lower or base ortions of the ritiles beyond the central or ri s parts thereof, as illustrated and described in m aforesaid patent, instead of havin the ri ties terminate in the plane of theta le where the ribs leave oft', has been found to facilitate the concentration of the values found in the ores, particularly those of finer grade. I have discovered that better results are attained if the shape of the base portion of the riiile is changed beyond the termination of the central rib part thereof;l that is to say, if the surfaces of the base portions have a diierent slope be ond t-he standin ribs, that is toward the discharge end of t e machine, from what they do toward the head end of the machine or between the ribs. This portion of my invention is illustrated in Figs. 4 to 7 inclusive, where 50 designates the central standing rib portions of the riiiles having vertical side walls, and 51 the base portions havin slo ingv upper surfaces. The sha e o the ase portions of the ritiies at di erent parts of theA table is indicpted by the transverse sectional views 5 to As illustrated in Fig. lthe ritlles 50 change their direction longitudinally. In the arrangement illustrated t-he rifiies bend or change their direction tvviee, once alon the line m and again alon the line y. The ocation or disposition o the line 'or lines alon which the riiiles change their direction is not very material, the important fact being the bending or changing direction of the riles between their ends in order that the aths along which the concentrates lyin tween adiacent riies are conducted sha be bent or broken, as thereby two objects are secured. First, there is a change in the angle of the flow of the water over the concentrates in their line of travel or movement len hwise of the table which I have `found ten s to more rapidly separate the sand and other waste material from the valuable partieles than where the channels formed by the riilles are straight throughout.. In the second place, the arrangement of riilles referred to tends to the better stratification of the particles of value. The recipiocatory inotions imparted to the table give to the heavy particles of ore movement in a longitudinal direction, which movement is interrupted or impeded at the places where the direction of the riiiles is changed, with the result as I have found, that there is a better and more perfect stratification and consequent final concentration. It is desirable that the bends or changes in the direction of the riilles should be such as to change the direction of the channels between the rifiles toward the upper edge of the table, at least this should be true of the bends nearest the delivery end of the table if the direction of the ritiles is changed more than once. It is well known that the fines tend to hug or move close to the riiiies. These fines being heavier than the waste material upon the table tend to settle down close to the bed, and, by reason of their small size, they shift down between the values of larger size. Being exceedingly small particles they are easily acted upon by 'the wash water, and, owing to their size, are less readily moved toward the discharge end of the table than are the particles of larger size. It is therefore desirable to give the rifiles such direction as will assist in keeping the fines of value on the u per edge or side of the table along with tlhe larger values, and this I have found can be accomplished by changing the direction of the ritlles and inclinin," them one or more times in a direction toward the upper edge'of the table so that the angle at which they diverge is decreased toward the discharge end of the table.

What I claim is 1. An ore concentrating table having longitudinal sills and provided along its edges with strips or plates, in combination with' screw threaded brace rods connected at their outer ends with the said strips or plates and at their inner ends supported by the said sills, and nuts for putting the brace rods `under stress to maintain the surface of the table in a plane.

2. An ore concentrating table supported so as to be reciprocated and provided with rillles arranged to permit stratification of the ore being treated at the head end of the table and concentration at the delivery end. the riillcs having ribbed portions withverti cal side walls tapering from the head toward the tail of the machine, the said ribs rising frpm base portions ofthe ritles having .sloping upper surfaces, the said base portions extending beyond the ribbed portions of the riiiles toward the delivery end of the table, and the inclination of the said lli= sloping up er surfaces diierin at different ing toward the upper or water feed side of tiallyl and for the purpose gt forth. d at the bends.

3. ore concentrating ta e a apte to 5 be reci rocated, provided with longitudinal WILLIAM E' FORD' riles, t e direction of the ries bem twice Witnesses: slightly changed in the course o their B. H. EeTnnL-r, length by angular bends, the last change be- NnLLm W. Eemian.

Copies of thin patent may 'be obtained for ive vente each, by addreszlng the Qommieetener of leeemn, Washington, D. O.

parts of t e riies longitudine ly, substanthe table and the milles being straight except z 

